Do I need trekking poles on the TMB?

You don’t need trekking poles on the Tour du Mont Blanc. In fact, you don’t need trekking poles anywhere. Plenty of people hike all over the world without them and have few problems. However, in my opinion, they are desirable: a very good idea indeed whether on the Tour du Mont Blanc or any other mountain hike. And here’s why:

• You are less likely to fall if you use them: this seems pretty obvious right? By using four limbs instead of two, you are more stable and less prone to fall. That is a very good thing on a multi-day trek like the TMB when an injury can send you back home on a plane, wasting months of planning; 
• You can walk further and longer with them: you will be sharing your load amongst four limbs instead of two. This means that there is less force going through your legs and that helps to conserve strength. This benefit is not to be underestimated when you are carrying a heavy pack that you are not used to; and 
• They reduce knee injury: walking in the Alps by definition involves long climbs and descents as you pass between valleys over high altitude mountain passes. The downhill sections are hard on your knees, particularly if you are not used to it. For me, the main benefit of poles is to take good care of my knees on the relentless descents.

Now some people will tell you that they also improve posture, making you walk more upright, which in turn helps with respiration. Others will tell you that they help strengthen your back muscles but I don’t know about any of that. All I know is that when using poles, I am less likely to fall over, get tired or injury myself. That is all I need to know to convince me to use them.

Do I need trekking poles for the Tour du Mont Blanc?

So what are the downsides of using poles?

Well some people find that they get in the way: if you do not place them right then you can trip over them. However, I believe that is just a matter of a little practice. Others say that they make you burn more calories so you need to carry more food. This seems logical but I do not think that it makes that big a difference. And then there is the matter of the extra weight but with the introduction of carbon poles this is not a massive issue. In summary, I believe that these issues are vastly outweighed by the benefits.

One pole or two?

If you have taken on board what I have said above, then it will seem obvious that two poles are best. However, one pole is definitely better than none. In fact, I only walk with one pole these days. A few years ago, I had a shoulder operation and I got into the habit of using only one while going through rehab. I am always concerned about giving that shoulder too much work so I still use one, swapping between arms periodically. The advantage of using one is that you always have a hand free. But if I could, I would use two without hesitation.

Should I use the wrist straps?

My answer is emphatically yes! The straps can be used to take most of the weight off your fingers and hands, reducing strain. Your wrists, which are stronger, do much of the work. Straps also help reduce blisters on your fingers and palms because you do not need to grip the pole so tightly. However, poor quality straps can also cause chaffing.

The straps should be worn the same way as those on ski poles: you put your hands up through the straps rather than down. This means that if you fall then you are less likely to break your wrist as your hands can come free of the poles more easily.

How to use the straps

A walker using poles on the Tour du Mont Blanc

Telescopic poles or folding poles?

Telescopic poles collapse by pushing the sections into one another. Normally there are three sections and they tend to be very robust, lasting for years. Folding poles usually have four sections connected by plastic covered string. The sections do not fold up beside each other and so the folded pole is wider than the collapsed telescopic pole and tends to be less durable.

For decades, I used telescopic poles but once I bought a folding set, I never looked back. Although, they are less durable, the folding pole has two key advantages:

1. Telescopic poles when collapsed are too long to fit inside the small 35 litre backpacks commonly used for Alpine trekking. This makes like difficult when you want to take them on a plane because post-911 there is no way that you are going to be allowed to bring those poles into the cabin. If it won’t fit in your pack then what do you do? Of course, if you are going to carry a 50-65 litre pack then size will not be an issue; 
2. Folding poles are commonly made of carbon and so they are very light. I love carbon. My leki Micro Vario Carbon poles weigh 240g each. And although they are probably not as robust as aluminium poles, I have had them for years and, trust me, they are very strong. Everything is going carbon these days and no matter what anyone tells you, millions of people are using carbon poles. They are a little more expensive it is true but not massively so.

A folding carbon walking pole

What are anti-shock poles?

Anti-shock poles have shock absorbers built in so that the stress on your arms and wrists is reduced. There are various different mechanisms: one of the earliest was basically to have a spring within the pole. This was quite heavy. However, nowadays there are some really cool lightweight systems. My poles have a neat piece of shock-absorbing rubber within the tip and it really works. Some say that the shock absorber affects your contact with the ground but I have never found that.
What is the best material for the handles?

In simple terms, there are three types: cork, rubber and foam. Cork (its rarely real cork these days) is the nicest to use: very comfortable and less likely to give you blisters. But it is quite heavy. Rubber handles, in my opinion, are the worst. I find them uncomfortable to use for long periods and most likely to cause rubbing. I hate them. Foam used to be horrible but these days if you buy good quality poles, you should get good foam. My current poles have foam handles and they are excellent: I have walked thousands of km with them and I have never had a problem.

Everyone’s hands are different though so my advice is to go to a shop and try them out. It’s not the same as walking the 170km of the TMB with them but some comfort issues will be immediately obvious. Remember though that there are loads of cheap poles out there and the handles are unlikely to have been made with good stuff: when you have blisters after about 100km, you may wish that you had bought more expensive ones!
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So there it is: one fool’s views on the use of a stick!

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